


Reflektor

by InsideMyBrain



Category: 2P Hetalia - Fandom, Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: 1P vs. 2P, 2Ps Want To Take Over, 2Ptalia, AU, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Medieval, America/England Feels (Hetalia), Big Age Difference Between England And America I'm Warning You Right Now, Character Death Is Undecided Rn, Fantasy, France Is Forever Alone, Good vs. Evil, Human Names Used, I think that's it - Freeform, M/M, Magic, Magic Mirror - Freeform, Magik - Freeform, Mentions of Jeanne, Reflektor, You Can Edit These Later Right?, lots of side ships, ok, sorry about that, well medieval-ish anyway
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-15
Updated: 2016-05-21
Packaged: 2018-06-08 16:17:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6862702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InsideMyBrain/pseuds/InsideMyBrain
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Reflektors have been banned in the Kingdom of Elián for over a century. When Arthur, newly appointed Grandmaster of Magik, uses an old spellbook to make one, everything goes wrong. He thinks he can handle it until his friend Alfred is kidnapped and taken into the twisted world of the reflektor. Can he navigate the warped reality that is inside the reflektor and save Alfred? And can he destroy the device without destroying himself?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Grandmaster

**Author's Note:**

> lowkey accidentally ripped off Fairy Tail. 
> 
> Ooops.

"Arthur Kirkland, I hereby grant you the status as a Grandmaster of Magik. May you continue your research and further your knowledge of Magik to benefit your kingdom, and the world."

Arthur's brilliant green eyes opened as applause erupted around him. He turned to his left to shake the Duke's hand as he was presented with a small plaque. After a grateful smile at the people gathered around, he clutched his plaque and maneuvred his way out of the crowd.

"Hey, Arthur! Hey, hey Arthur!" A loud voice called from behind him. He turned to see Alfred jogging up to him, his loose cotton shirt billowing in the cold seaside wind.

Alfred's dirty blond hair whipped around his face and his eyes gleamed. He was smiling, as always, but it seemed more joyous than usual. He caught up to Arthur, huffing from the exertion.

"Congratulations!" He grinned. "I didn't think you'd actually move up another level."

Arthur pulled his cloak around him, concealing the plaque beneath it. "The kingdom needs more wizards with my level of understanding." A triumphant smirk adorned his lips. "It's not all that surprising."

"Well, when you're only a beginner like me, it's pretty impressive to know a Grandmaster!" Alfred countered. For a moment, Arthur allowed his smirk to be replaced with a true smile, but quickly smirked again. "We should go celebrate!"

"Alright." Arthur agreed warmly. Most of the time he turned down Alfred's offers of celebration, but today was different. After all, he had just received the highest achievement any wizard could.

"Yes! Finally, you agree to party with me!" Alfred was elated, practically shouting the news over the thatched roofs of the surrounding homes. "Leopard Tavern, at dusk!" To Arthur's surprise, he grabbed his cold hand in his rough, warm one, and shook it vigorously.

Then he was off, laughing into the late afternoon air, running with the joy youth should. Arthur stood watching him run and whoop and laugh, his messy locks tumbling into his cerulean eyes, until he turned a corner and Arthur couldn't see him any more.

Arthur turned, and with a sigh, began to walk home.

Arthur lived in the village of Erictho, which was in the Kingdom of Elián. The Kingdom was ruled by a just King, and times were good. No plagues or wars. Elián had a reputation as the Kingdom with the most witches and wizards, and it was certainly true. Almost every individual in the Kingdom had at least a basic understanding of Magik, and more than half of the citizens used Magik in their trade or profession.

Magik was an art. It required patience and careful study, memorization of spells, concoction of potions, purifying rituals, and, most of all, hard work. Becoming a Grandmaster of Magik wasn't simply learning a few spells. To be a Grandmaster, one had to have a spiritual understanding of all concepts of Magik, practical experience, and contributed to the furthering of Magikal knowledge.

Arthur had been practising Magik since he was child. His parents, Masters of Magik themselves, taught him the basic principles before he even entered school. In school, the teachers couldn't keep up with his burning curiosity for the subject. He became a Master at four-and-twenty years, one of the youngest in history.

Arthur was six-and-thirty years now.

He arrived at his home and unlocked the heavy wooden door. Once inside, he lit a candle and started a fire. Seating himself in front of the cracking warmth, he rubbed his hands together until they warmed up.

Arthur's relationship with Alfred was complicated, to say to the least. The two had known each other since Alfred was a child of five years, in fact, he had practically grown up under Arthur's care. It wasn't until recent years that Arthur's affection for Alfred had blossomed into love; it had actually caught him quite off guard. Because of their age difference, Arthur thought it awkward to court him. Besides, he was sure Alfred could not possibly love him back. Alfred was nineteen years, of an age where love was anything, and was foolish and frivolous. Love, to people of Alfred's age, was a pretty girl you met yesterday, the lingering smell of perfume from the barmaid, a fluttering of eyelashes and a kiss blown across the room. It was not, could not be anything but a three-day fling.

Arthur ate a bowl of stew before leaving for the tavern, somehow forcing it down even though he wasn't hungry. Before leaving, he checked his reflection in his full-length mirror.

Green eyes, messy blond hair. The expression that stared back at him was resigned. He forced an amiable smile onto his face; better. His white collar was stiffly upturned over a grey jacket. He threw his green cloak over his shoulders, tied it at the neck, and laced up his boots.

He then left for the tavern.

The sun was only just setting, turning the horizon orange like liquid fire. The autumn wind nipped at his neck as he walked briskly down the streets, which were beginning to quiet down. Mothers herded stray children inside, chickens waddled their way to their pens for the night. On the main streets, the only ones in town that were cobbled, shopkeepers were closing up while taverns and brothels were just opening.

Leopard Tavern was at the end of the street, close enough to the docks to hear seagulls screeching from inside. It was Alfred's usual drinking spot, along with his two other friends, and the man Arthur hated the most: Francis.

Francis and Arthur had been rivals since the beginning of time, and rivals in everything. Magik, sports, their studies when they were in school. Arthur was looking forward to rubbing his status of Grandmaster in Francis' face.

The one thing they did not compete in was their love lives. A long time ago, Francis was in love with a young woman named Jeanne, and the two couldn't have been happier together. Arthur had been envious, but there was no point in breaking them up, as they weren't meant to be. Jeanne perished in a great fire that took out an entire neighbourhood. Francis mourned her death in an odd way- he craved love, and took whatever love he could get. It was as if, when Jeanne was taken from him, he needed to fill the empty spot in his heart with something that felt even a little like her love.

Arthur arrived at the tavern soon enough. It was a two-story wooden building with a thatched straw roof. A wooden sign with a painted picture of a beer tankard protruded from the second story, and swung in the cool breeze. Beyond the dirty windows, shouts of laughter could be heard, mixed with loud conversation. He swung open the oaken door, and was met with shouted greetings from a table.

The inside was your average tavern, a barkeep handing out drinks, tables filled with people laughing and drinking. Alfred sat at a table, waving frantically for him to come and join them. Seated around the table with him were Francis, Matthew, Lukas, and Vlad.

Matthew was Alfred's brother, whom Arthur was on friendly terms with. He had known Matthew as long as he'd known Alfred, of course, but Matthew was the type of person one would easily forget. He was quiet and shy, and much less excitable than Alfred. It seemed that even if he wanted to be loud it would come out quiet.

Lukas and Vlad were Arthur's friends. He met the two at Advanced Magik School. Lukas had white-blond hair and icy blue eyes. His specialty was Magik creatures, and trolls in particular. Not every wizard could see, much less control Magik creatures, but Lukas could. Vlad was a strange case; he used Magik mostly to pull pranks and he had some vampiric tendencies.

"Arthur! Come on!" Alfred grasped Arthur's elbow and dragged him to the table, pushing him to sit.

"Congratulations, Arthur." Matthew mouthed- or maybe he said it, and he was drowned out by the noise around him.

"Well, congratulations, I suppose, Arthur." Francis told him, though he was grinning.

"Thanks, I guess, frog." Arthur replied, shooting a smile back. He turned to Lukas. "Hey, how's Matthias?"

Lukas rolled his eyes and took a sip of his drink. "The usual. I'm surprised he's not here tonight, actually."

From Arthur's question a conversation sprung, sprouting and branching out into different topics. As the night progressed, Arthur's friends steadily got more inebriated, while he avoided drinking too much. He was very bad at holding his liquor. At some point, the conversation turned back to Arthur's new status as a Grandmaster.

"You can pretty much do anything." Lukas said. "Frankly, I'm jealous."

Arthur just grinned. He was rather enjoying the attention. Perhaps it was the half a drink he'd downed, but with each word his confidence grew.

"You should do something, to, like, demonstrate your power... Or something." Alfred put in.

Arthur snorted. "Wouldn't I be such a douchebag."

The others laughed. Vlad laughed particularly hard, spewing his drink out, causing Matthew to recoil.

"I'm serious." Alfred insisted. However, it was a bit hard to believe he was serious about anything, as his face wore the silliest smile one could have. It looked like it was cut-and-pasted onto his face. "Cast a huge-ass spell, or make a big Magikal... Thingy."

"Magikal device?" Arthur shook his head. "Actually... That sounds interesting."

"You could pull off something super cool. Like a device that turns cats into meowing cotton candy." Alfred spluttered.

"That would be actually terrifying." Francis told him.

"Alfred, where do you get your ideas from?" Lukas asked. "I can see why you and Matthias get along- you're both absolute idiots."

The night passed in chaotic peace until everyone was sleepy. They bade each other good-bye after the barkeep told them he was closing up. Each man walked off in a different direction to return home, except for Alfred and Arthur, who were coincidentally going in the same direction.

"See, that was fun! You should come to the tavern with us more often." Alfred said.

"Eh, maybe not." Arthur said. "I get the strangest feeling I won't be too good tomorrow morning."

Alfred shrugged. "Whatever you like. You know, you should really make that Magikal Thingy."

"Device."

"Yes, that."

The two had reached Arthur's house. They stood in awkward silence for a moment.

"Goodnight, Alfred." Arthur opened his door.

"Goodnight, Arthur!" Alfred turned away and waved.

With a small sigh, Arthur entered his home.


	2. The Reflektor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur makes a big-ass mistake. Completely sober, too. you f*ckhead, arthur.

Arthur awoke the next morning with a feeling of elation. He rolled over in his bed, shielding his eyes from the bright sun streaming in through his window. 

He was certainly lucky he didn't have a huge hangover. He remembered the last time he drank; a morning full of agony and regret. 

This time, however, was not like that. He felt happy, content. The night of celebration was the perfect way to cap off the biggest accomplishment of his career. 

He got up and went into his kitchen to find something to eat. He settled on a piece of rye bread with honey. Arthur chewed it thoughtfully, thinking about the night. 

_You can pretty much do anything._

_You could pull off something super cool._

Arthur suddenly realized he was grinning, and bent his smile back into a neutral expression. 

Alfred was an idiot. That much he knew was true. But he had to say, the idiot had a point. What would he do with his status if he didn't do anything? And besides... Arthur hated to think of it like this, but if he really made an impressive Magikal device, maybe Alfred's view of him would change. Maybe he would stop being Alfred's older brother, and be more than that. 

He finished his bread and honey and wiped his hands. After a quick wash, he dressed in his usual attire- white shirt, grey suit jacket, grey pants, green cloak, brown boots. He then left, the midday sun on his face and the squawking of the gulls filling his ears. 

He made his way to the Magikal library, only a few blocks from his home. It was a vast, impressive building, its bricks cut from shiny white stone that looked like sugar. Its long windows were made from thin sheets of glass, so thin they were like ice. The big double doors were heavy, dark wood with golden handles. A sign above them read, in flourishing handwriting, "Magikal Library: a source of Magikal wisdom and knowledge." In the dead of winter, with dark skies and a sprinkling of snow on the roof, it would be easy to imagine the building as made of candy, with the snow as powdered sugar.

However, it was only autumn, and to Arthur, the library looked as it always did: big, lovely, and awe-inspiring. 

He entered through the big wooden doors, the bookkeeper nodding politely at him over a thick volume. He moved past him, into the aisles packed with dusty tomes. 

Arthur loved it here, the quiet place filled with thousands of books, all that knowledge and information waiting to be gathered. It was impossible to read them all in a single lifetime, but Arthur had taken out a good chunk of them. He could probably attest his status of Grandmaster to all these books.

He prowled through the library, slowly making his way towards the back. The library was organized chronologically, with the most recent books in the front. Arthur needed an old one, a book that was thick and large and smelled of must and was hand-written with half the pages too worn to read. Those were the kind with the most knowledge, if you could read them anyway. 

Arthur reached the very end of the library and craned his head back to look up at all the books. The bookshelves reached the ceiling, and not a single space was empty. He glanced towards a tall, spindly ladder leaned across one of the bookshelves. He was going to need that.

After at least three hours of searching, Arthur found a suitable book. It was big, large, and smelled of must. It was hand-written, and hardly legible. But it was perfect. On the cover were the words, written in flourishing purple ink, "A Guide To Magikal Devices." 

Arthur took his treasure to the reading room, where he admired it for some time as if looking at a painting. 

Then he opened it and began to read.

There was no title page, no index or list of chapters. It just started off right away, listing Magikal devices, what they did, and how to make them. 

There were several that did really huge things, like one that promised to enslave all of humanity, and another that claimed it could travel through time. Arthur would be lying if he said the time travel device didn't tempt him, but he could think of several things that could go wrong with that, so he hurriedly flipped to the next page. 

The next page was titled, "The Reflektor", and as it was more legible than the rest of the book, Arthur smoothed out the page and read the first paragraph.

_The Reflektor is a Magikal device used to reflect the opposite of the world in general. However,_ _Reflektors_   _have recently_   _been banned from general use because of the many accidents and dangers caused by it. When previously used, the Reflektor has been known to warp reality and distort people's views. For example, the last known Reflektor used caused the demise of seventeen people after the wizard using it believed he was invincible and could do anything. Many people have also been lost to the world of the Reflektor, a place where logic does not apply and the usual boundaries of Magik are broken._

Arthur reread the paragraph over a few times. Of course it sounded dangerous, but then again so did every device in the book. What would be a Magikal device without some sort of risk? It did tell the fate of the last wizard who used the Reflektor, but Arthur was sure he wouldn't be so foolish. He had never had so much of an ego, and one Magikal device wouldn't cause him to have one. 

"I'd like to check this one out, please." He told the bookkeeper, handing him the book. Arthur signed his name on the register, promising to bring the book back in three weeks, and left the library. 

As he walked down the road, he read the spell. It seemed quite simple; all you needed was a full-length mirror, a potion, and some Magik words. He already had a full-length mirror, and the words were printed in the book. 

Arthur turned down a side street and headed for the apothecary. 

As he walked along the dirt path, he ran his eye down the list of ingredients. There were some strange things, but hopefully he could find them. The list ran as follows.

_1 bat wing, finely chopped_   
_7 spider eyes_   
_1 unicorn horn_   
_3 grams of wormwood_   
_5 eagle talons_   
_6-8 drops of the maker's blood_

Arthur was sure he could get everything at the apothecary.

Reaching said apothecary, he entered and began browsing. He picked up the bat wing, wormwood, spider eyes, and eagle talons easily, but he had to ask at the counter for a unicorn horn. They were rare, and quite expensive, so most apothecaries kept them under lock and key. 

Once he'd purchased the necessary ingredients, he stepped back out into the street. The bag of ingredients was heavy on his hip, and he quickened his step to get home. 

While walking, he continued reading the directions. However, one line made him pause. 

_The potion must be spread over the mirror with the glass of one which has been broken._

Arthur stopped in the middle of the street, considering. He didn't want to break a mirror, of course, since he would be cursed for seven years. But then an idea occurred to him, and he continued on his merry way. 

Once the mirror that was to be broke was bought, he headed to Francis' house. 

"Oh, Arthur, what brings you here?" Francis asked upon opening the door and finding Arthur on his doorstep. 

"Punch me." Arthur replied simply.

"Why?" Francis asked confusedly. 

"Just do it." 

Bemused, Francis shrugged, then made a fist. Just as Arthur hoped, he wouldn't be able to resist the opportunity to give him a solid punch to the nose. 

Just as Francis swung his fist, Arthur brought the mirror up to his face. It was a small hand mirror, and Francis let out a shriek as he saw what he was about to do.

But it was too late to stop his fist. 

The mirror shattered as Francis' fist made contact with it. 

"What the hell, Arthur?!" He yelled. His hand hung limp at his side and his blue eyes were wide in shock. "If you wanted to curse me, wasn't there an easier way to do it?"

Arthur ignored the question and picked up the broken mirror pieces. "Thanks, Francis!" He smirked. Francis replied by slamming the door in his face. 

Arthur continued on home.

Once he arrived, he took all the ingredients and his mirror up to his attic. 

His attic was where he cast spells, brewed potions, and practised his Magik. A cauldron was hung over a fireplace for potions, and several symbols were drawn on the wall in blood for any spells he needed to cast. He set the mirror in the corner of the room and cracked open the book again. 

_Step 1: Grind unicorn horn and eagle talons into a powder._

Arthur took his pestle and ground them up in the mortar until they were, respectively silvery grey and blackish-brown powders. 

_Step 2: Add the bat wing, wormwood, and spider eyes. Crush into a paste._

He mixed together the ground unicorn horn and eagle talons, and then added the other ingredients. Slowly, he crushed them together.

_Step 3: Cut your hand with a silver dagger and drip blood into the paste. Stir until smooth._

Arthur grasped his ebony-handled knife and sliced his hand open. To make the blood drip out faster, he squeezed his hand into a fist and counted out seven drops of blood. He then swirled it around until it resembled sticky cake batter. 

_Step 4: Spread the solution over the top of the mirror, and say the Magik words._

Arthur approached the mirror, holding the biggest fragment of the broken mirror in his right hand while holding the mortar with the solution in his left. He dipped the glass into the potion and spread it over the top of the mirror. He took a deep breath, then spoke.  

"Spiritus invoco speculi, imaginem convertare! Affer mihi omnibus oppositis, quaenam sint consequatur!"

The sticky, dark brown substance began to drip faster. Arthur steeled his resolve, and finished the spell.

"Et, vicissim!" 

The solution dripped faster and faster and trickled down the glass of the mirror, which started to ripple. It wavered as though it was water. The solution dripped down, further down, until it reached the wooden floorboards of his attic. Then the glass stopped rippling, and the solution dissipated into thin air. 

Arthur could no longer see his reflection in it.

The mirror was now a Reflektor. 

Arthur watched apprehensively, waiting for something to happen. For a moment, nothing did. Then, a blurry shadow appeared in the glass. The shape grew sharper and clearer, until it shifted into the form of a man, who stepped right out of the mirror into Arthur's attic. 

He paused, looking around him, then his baby blue eyes met Arthur's green ones. 

"Hello, poppet."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Latin translations: "I call upon the spirits of the mirror, reverse this reflection! Bring to me the opposite of all, no matter what the consequences may be!"  
> "Now, reverse!"


End file.
